विभूतिरुन्नतिः कान्तिः सृष्टिः कीर्तिः सन्नतिर्व्युष्टिः सत्कृष्टिरृद्धिरिति प्रणवादिनमोन्तैश्चतुर्थ्यन्तैर्नवशक्तिं यजेत् । अङ्गे प्रथमा वृतिः । वासुदेवाभिर्द्वितीया । बालाक्यादिभिस्तृतीया । इन्द्रादिभिश्चतुर्थी भवति । द्वादशलक्षजपः
vibhūtirunnatiḥ kāntiḥ sṛṣṭiḥ kīrtiḥ sannatirvyuṣṭiḥ satkṛṣṭirṛddhiriti praṇavādinamontaiścaturthyantairnavaśaktiṃ yajet | aṅge prathamā vṛtiḥ | vāsudevābhirdvitīyā | bālākyādibhistṛtīyā | indrādibhiścaturthī bhavati | dvādaśalakṣajapaḥ
"Majesty, elevation, beauty, creation, glory, bowing, dawning, good deed-doing, abundance — with these [names], beginning with the praṇava, ending with 'homage,' and standing in the dative, let him honor the nine powers. The first enclosure by the limbs, the second by [the companions of] Vāsudeva, the third by Bālaka and the rest, the fourth by Indra and the rest. Twelve hundred thousand repetitions."
a10f77cc43ba · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The nine powers of Lakṣmī are named, and it is worth listing them in English, for the list is curious. Vibhūti — majesty, abundance; unnati — elevation; kānti — beauty; sṛṣṭi — creation; kīrti — glory; sannati — bowing, humility; vyuṣṭi — dawning, the onset of day; sat-kṛṣṭi — good deed-doing; ṛddhi — abundance. It is worth noting that amid this list of majesty and glory stands sannati, "bowing."
This word comes from sam-nam, "to bow down"; and it means humility, obeisance, readiness to yield. That is, among the powers of the goddess of abundance is named the capacity to bow; and this, to my mind, is the subtlest thought in the whole first chapter. Let us add what the Vaiṣṇava side says of it.
Its Lakṣmī is the one who serves: she massages His feet, stands at His side; and her majesty lies not in what she gives, but in whom she stands beside, as discussed at the eighth passage. That is, for it bowing is not one of the nine powers, but her entire position. Let us add the number of repetitions: dvādaśa-lakṣa, "twelve lakhs," that is, one million two hundred thousand.
This number is enormous; and if repeated a hundred and eight times a day, it would take thirty years. It is worth saying plainly: such numbers in mantric books are not a schedule but an indication of the incommensurable; and a person who sets out to count is most likely to mistake counting for the deed.